X-games, X-sports and X-furniture…

May 31, 2009

In local news here in South Africa a letter addressed to the ministers of health, public service, education, justice, social service, correctional services, police and finance from Cosatu, the country’s biggest trade union, admitted the terrifying reality facing their leadership: “We are sitting on a time bomb that may explode at any time.”

The President and his Cabinet had not realised the severity of the situation last week when Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at a news conference “We call on the leadership of government at national level and provinces to act with necessary urgency to avert what is clearly a ticking time bomb.”

The Cabinet is due to hold a special session to examine the matter. “We were aware after Vavi’s comments they had a bomb problem,” said an unnamed source within the Cabinet, “but we had no idea they lacked furniture, too. Some sort of chair or box or something is probably in order so they don’t have to use the bomb for seating.”

The source went on to say that “A budget will have to be put aside and a tender sent out. In the interim we are forming a committee to look into the possibility of sending over a qualified individual to read the time on the bomb. That way, at least, the tender committee will have a time-frame to work with.”

A Cosatu insider admitted that they had not realised that, being a time bomb, reading the detonation time was an opotion.

The bomb squad is on standby for when alternative furniture has been arranged.